Toothbrush holder



y 1950 V..LlCARl ET AL ,3

TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER Filed April :50, 1947 Patented May 9, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE "TOOTHB-RUSH HOLDER Vincent Licari and .AnthonyF. Licari, Brooklyn, .N. Y.

This invention relates to tooth brush holder,

and the object .of :the same is toprovidea simple holder which may be readily.closedfir'opened by a movement of a tooth brush corresponding to that necessary to :enclose .a tooth brush .or to I remove a tooth brush.

The invention consists of a .casinghaving iparts hinged along a pintle .and :having horizontal members each pivoted to ..a supporting Wall with .a spring connecting the pivots, the opening .of the casing moving .the pintle.axisztothefront of the spring and the closing voi thescasingmoving the pintle axis to the .rear of the spring, .the

horizontal members having cutouts :forsthe neck of the .tooth brush shaped to cause closing .ofithe casing :by the movement ;of the :.tooth brush tin one direction and to cause opening -:of the.:casin'g by the.:movement of the tooth brush .in :thenther .direction.

' Suitable features are added to provide .eflici'ent operation.

The invention will be :more .fully :zdescribed hereinafter, embodiments thereof shown in :the drawings, .and the invention will be :finally pointed out in the claims.

In 'the accompanying drawings: Fig. '1 is a perspective front view o'f the improved brush holder;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same in closed 1 position Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 isa top viewof 'Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a bottom' view'of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of Fig. 2, but in open position;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the supporting plate, and

Fig. 9 is a detail view of a guidepin.

Similar characters of reference indicate corre- 4 spondin parts throughout the various views.

Referring -to "the drawings, the supporting bracket I0'is of angular shape-with a vertical "back portion -H having openings I2, fornails,

through openings in the knuckles. The base llortions 2,0 haveseachia .cut011t130, each pf a depth .about one half .of the width of :a neck vportion of astooth'brush'and of a widthabout the depth of the neck of a standard tooth brush (shown in dotted ilines in side viewin :Fig. ,3 where ithe :depth is, shown). ;Also each base portion :20 has a projection .31 one overlapping the other, to act as an abutment to :serve to ;limit the closing of the leaves :22 .and 2:3, and to provide .means to he pushed by theztooth brush :to .close the leaves. The bottom :of the .base plates .20, have recesses 5.3.3. The guide :pins :116 extend from the base plates 20 ato which they-are "iasteneddownwardly :thmugh zthezelongated slots $5 .in the horizontal portion: I 3,0fli7lfl8jlb1fii9kfltil 9.

Each of these pins 11:6 is-rconneoted with :one. end :of .a .helical spring 46. The .pins .l16 are con- ;nected withithemear .of'thehase portions .2 EL-which sextendgtovthe rear .of thelaxisofithe pintle a, when the leaves .22 and :23 .of the. casing ii are Ope11,.fi.S.Sh0Wni;in Fig. ".7, but which rear .por- "tions 1of%the ibase portions :are to theiront of the ;axis.nf :the .pintle; 2.60., =when the leaveseare closed, .ass'hownzin Fig.26. Thespringill takes. a corresponding .p'osition, once in the .front of the axis :of 2the pintle 26a.:aszin Fig. .16,:and.once:in the rear. of itheraxis pintle as in Fig. .7. There istog- :gle action sin respect to the axis .pintle.

From :this structure, .theoperation is :as follows: Abrush is placed-into :the mouth of the open {iaws -or =leavesl 22 :and .23, and is pressed against the projections 3| whereby thejaws close to-enclosethe tooth brush and remain closed due to ithe toggle action-citric spring 41], the pins 1 6 moving in the slots 45. When it is desired -t0=remove the toothbrush, it is pressed outwardly andt-he -'jaws-'or3=leaves thereby open,--and due-to the toggle action remain 'open, until the pro- 0 "jections =31 are again pressed by the insertion of a tooth brush.

'Thecasing-whenenclosing atooth brush, keeps dust and germs 'from the bristles, at the same time allowing a satis'fa'ctory'drainage.

We have describedseveral forms of our invention, but obviously various changes may be made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as set out in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A tooth brush holder, comprising an angular bracket having a horizontal part with a pair of elongated slots, a pair of hinged leaves forming a bristle end enclosing casing, each leaf having a horizontal plate with a guide pin passing through an elongated slot, and a spring having each end secured to a guide pin, whereby the spring tends to hold the leaves open or closed.

2. A tooth brush holder, comprising an angular bracket having a horizontal part with a pair of elongated slots, a pair of hinged leaves forming a bristle end enclosing casing, each leaf having a horizontal plate with a guide pin passing through an elongated slot, and a spring having each end secured to a guide pin, said hinge being in front of the guide pins when the leaves are open and at the rear of the guide pins when the leaves are closed, whereby the spring tends to hold the leaves open or closed.

3. A tooth brush holder, comprising an angular bracket having a horizontal part with a pair of elongated slots, a pair of hinged leaves forming a bristle end enclosing casing, each leaf having a horizontal plate with a guide pin passing through an elongated slot, and a spring having each end secured to a guide pin, each of said horizontal plates having a recess of the depth and width of a neck of a standard tooth brush, whereby the spring tends to hold the leaves open or closed.

4. A tooth brush holder, comprising an angular bracket having a horizontal part with a pair of elongated slots, a pair of hinged leaves forming a bristle end enclosing casing,- each leaf having a horizontal plate with a guide pin passing through an elongated slot, and a spring having each end secured to a guide pin, each of said horizontal plates having a recess of the depth and width of a neck of a standard tooth brush, whereby the spring tends to hold the leaves open or closed, and each of the horizontal plates having a recess at its rear for the passage of the spring.

5. A tooth brush holder, comprising an angular bracket having a horizontal part with a pair of elongated slots, a pair of hinged leaves forming a bristle end enclosing casing, each leaf having a horizontal plate with a guide pin passing through an elongated slot, and a spring having each end secured to a guide pin, each of said horizontal plates having a recess of the depth and width of a neck of a standard tooth brush, whereby the spring tends to hold the leaves open or closed, each of the horizontal plates having a recess at its rear for the passage of the spring, and each of said horizontal plates having a projection in front of the'axis of the hinge, to limit the closing movement of the leaves, and to open the leaves on pressure being applied.

6'. A tooth brush holder, comprising an angular bracket having a horizontal part with a pair of elongated slots, a pair of hinged leaves forming a bristle end enclosing casing, each leaf having a horizontal plate with a guide pin passing through an elongated slot, and a spring having each end secured to a guide pin, each of said horizontal plates having a recess of the depth and width of a neck of a standard tooth brush, whereby the spring tends to hold the leaves open or closed, each of the horizontal plates having a recess at its rear for the passage of the spring,

and each of said horizontal plates having a projection in front of the axis of the hinge, to limit the closing movement of the leaves, and to open the leaves on pressure being applied, said horizontal part of the bracket having a central cutout.

7. In a tooth brush holder, the combination 0 a horizontal support adapted to be placed on wall, and having a pair of slots and a cutou centrally of the slots for the passage of the brus handle, and a casing including -a pair of door like members hinged at their vertical rear ends and having bottom plates each with a cutout, which, when the plates abut, form a recess of substantially the depth and width of a neck of a standard tooth brush, to support the bristle end within the casing, a pin extending from the lower side of each bottom plate and each pin detachably engaging one of the slots and smaller in diameter than the length of the slot, whereby the casing may be detached from the support for cleaning and replaced on the support by merely inserting the pins in the slots and resting the casing on the support.

8. In a tooth brush holder, the combination of two like members of a height at least higher than the bristle end of a standard tooth brush, and when abutting forming a casing, each rear end hinged to the other to enable the casing to be opened at the front end of the members, each member having a bottom plate, each plate with a cutout between the hinge axis and the front of the casing, the two cutouts forming a recess when the casing is closed, the recess having a depth and width substantially equal to the depth and width of the neck of a standard tooth brush to support the bristle end of the toothbrush within the casing, overlapping projections at the inner part of the recess, which, when the casing is open, are inclined to each other, and adapted to be brought into alignment when pressed by the incoming neck of the tooth brush, the movement of the projections to aligned position moving the members to close the casing.

9. In a tooth brush holder, the combination with an angular bracket having a horizontal part with a pair of elongated slots of a pair of hinged leaves forming a bristle end enclosing casing, each leaf having a horizontal plate with a guide pin above a slot in the horizontal part of the bracket extending from the bottom of the horizontal plate of the casing and passing through said elongated slot.

VINCENT LICARI. ANTHONY F. LICARI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,289,025 Wever Dec. 24, 1918 1,720,789 Heusser July 16, 1929 2,309,116 Hylen Jan. 26, 1943 

